U-M Takes Cal State Fullerton Doubleheader Behind O'Halloran, Allen

Sunday, February 26

Fullerton, Calif.

2:00 PM PT

Michigan

3-2

Cal State Fullerton

2-3

Michigan

Cal State Fullerton

Greg Pace Jr. (Michigan Photography)

U-M Takes Cal State Fullerton Doubleheader Behind O'Halloran, Allen

2/26/2023 11:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PDF Boxscore (Game 1)PDF Boxscore (Game 2)Photo Gallery

By: Conor Stemme

FULLERTON, Calif. -- The University of Michigan baseball team took the first two games of the series against the Cal State Fullerton Titans behind some great pitching performances on Sunday, Feb. 26, winning game one, 9-5, and game two, 7-3.

The Wolverines (4-2) started game one by putting pressure on the Titans, having two on with one out but were unable to capitalize. Connor O'Halloran took the mound and started with a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one in the start of a great performance.

In the second inning, Michigan opened the scorebook taking a 1-0 lead on a Jack Van Remortel double. The double scored Joey Velazquez , who walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a Mitch Voit single. The Wolverines couldn't score Voit and Van Remortel, so O'Halloran went back to the mound and shut down the Titans pitching another 1-2-3 inning.

Michigan couldn't add to its lead in the third inning, but Fullerton would tie the game. O'Halloran struck out the first batter of the inning, then gave up two back-to-back doubles scoring one for the Titans.

U-M would retake the lead in the third and not look back. Joe Longo and Voit earned back-to-back walks before Greg Pace Jr. hit his first career home run to center field giving the Wolverines the 4-1 lead. O'Halloran returned to his dominant form giving up only a single and adding a strikeout.

Both teams would score in the fifth inning with Michigan's run coming as Voit reached on a fielder's choice. Ted Burton would score on the play after an errant throw from the Fullerton third baseman. O'Halloran gave up a two-out walk and double allowing the Titans to score again. In the sixth inning, both teams went down in order with O'Halloran adding two more strikeouts to his tally.

The Wolverine offense added some needed insurance runs in the next two innings with one in the seventh inning and three in the eighth. In the seventh, Burton singled and advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt by Gabe Sotres. Burton made his way around to score after a wild pitch and then a single by Voit to score. Pace started the eighth with a walk. He then stole a base and advanced to third on the throw. Cody Jefferis scored Pace on a single to left and scored himself on a Burton single. Michigan got its last run when Velazquez grounded into a double play, but Flores scored.

Fullerton went scoreless in the seventh with O'Halloran adding one more strikeout to his tally before being relieved for Noah Rennard. O'Halloran ended his night with 6.1 innings pitched, four hits, two runs and six strikeouts. Rennard pitched a scoreless seventh but gave up one in the eighth after a double and two wild pitches.

Eamon Horwedel came in relief and struck out the first batter. The next four batters reached base scoring two runs. Horwedel locked in and struck out the final two batters to stop any further comeback and win the game for the Wolverines.

The second game started with strikeouts on both sides. The Wolverines started the game striking out twice in a row before Burton flew out to left to end the top of the first. Chase Allen took the mound and allowed one double to center, but he struck out three in the first for the start of a masterful performance. The Maize and Blue went down 1-2-3 again in the top of the second. Allen allowed another double and a single scoring one run but added three more strikeouts to his tally for six in two innings.

The Wolverines got their first hit of the night when Van Remortel singled to right, but all three outs were strikeouts continuing the trend set early in the game. The Titans added another run in the bottom of the third after a double and a single. This was also the first half-inning without a strikeout in six half-innings.

Michigan added two runs on two hits in the top of the fourth to tie the game at two. The inning started with two quick outs including another strikeout, but Sotres drew a walk and stole a base. Jake Marti was hit by a pitch before Voit singled up the middle scoring Sotres. The next batter up was Jordon Rogers, who singled to the same spot this time scoring Marti to tie the game. Voit and Rogers were unable to complete their path around the bases as Van Remortel flew out to center to end the inning.

Allen continued his dominance in the fourth inning as he struck out the first two batters of the inning for eight on the day after just four innings. The Titans would add a single but after a bunt attempt with two outs the Wolverines escaped the inning unharmed.

U-M took the lead in the fifth scoring three runs. The inning started with a leadoff triple from Pace, who scored on the next pitch as Jefferis singled to center field. Sotres doubled with two outs to score Jefferis from second base. Marti singled up the middle the same spot as the previous runs scoring Sotres. Marti was caught stealing to end the inning preventing the Wolverines from extending the lead.

Some bad defensive plays were saved by some great ones in the bottom of the fifth. After the Titans reached on a single and an error from Jefferis, Voit converted a double play tagging third base on the force out and throwing it to Van Remortel for the double play. The Titans runner on second tried to score after a Sotres passed ball, but Allen had a great tag to keep the inning scoreless.

The sixth and seventh innings played out similarly. Van Remortel dew a two-out walk but was left on base to end the sixth and the Wolverines made good contact in the seventh but could not reach base.

U-M added to the lead in the eighth inning that started off with a Sotres single. Marti singled advancing Sotres to third. Rogers advanced on a fielder's choice scoring Sotres on the play. On the next play, Van Remortel grounded out but scored Marti on the play to extend Michigan's lead to five. Fullerton got one more run off Allen in the eighth on a sacrifice fly.

The score stayed the same entering the bottom of the ninth where Voit came into pitch relieving Allen. Allen ended the day with a great performance with eight innings of three-run ball with 10 strikeouts. Voit loaded the bases with two outs but forced a pop out to first to end the game and clinch the series versus Fullerton.

Michigan will play Fullerton again Monday (Feb. 27) at Goodwin Field at 5:30 p.m. PT looking to sweep the Titans for the second year in a row.